Key-slip.



G. E. CAMERON.

KEY SLIP.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 2, 1912.

1,063,954. Patented June 10,1913.

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COLUMBIA RLANQGRAPH C0,, WASHINGTON. u. c.

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STATFS PATENT @FFYEQE.

KEY-SLIP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June it), 1913.

Application filed May 2, 1912. Serial No. 694,640.

To all whom it may concern,

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. CAMERON, a citizen of the United States, residing at East Orange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Key-Slip, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates in general to the keybed of a player piano, and more particularly relates to a keyslip for the same.

The covers for keyslips now in general use on player pianos are in the form of a drop or door hinged at its lower edge to swing down in front thereby to expose the actuating and expression buttons and levers. These old forms of cover possess many inherent disadvantages. It is recognized that dust filters in through the crack formed between the cover and the front faces of the keys when the former is in its closed position, and when the cover is opened it extends forward of the front of the piano for some material distance interfering with the knees of the operator when pedaling. The supporting hinges of the covers become loose in time, and frequently give way entirely should anything accidentally bear down on the same and this is very apt to occur as this member is depending from the front of the piano and the very material weight of the same is supported only by the hinges. These doors abutting against the face of the casing mar the fin ish of the front, and the interposing of buffers defaces the appearance of the front of the instrument when the door is closed. Further the showing of metal hinges detracts from the continuity of the pleasing wood finish. Further these old forms of cover are inartistic in appearance, giving the efiect. when opening the same, of break ing out the front of the piano and destroying the architecture of the same.

It is an object of my invention to eliminate the above suggested defects in keyslips and to provide a neat, readily opened and closed cover for the same which will be substantially dust proof and which will not occupy any more space either in its opened or closed position, than is now occupied by the usual cover.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a device of the above indicated character which will simulate the sliding panels in front of the spool-box of a player piano and which will lend itself readily to the particular design of the casing.

A still further object of my invention is to lock the fall board of a player piano directly and centrally to a substantial part of the keyslip without interfering with the cover of the keyslip.

I attain the above outlined objects, broadly, by disposing the expression and control elements of a player piano within a pocket in the face of the keyslip and 010s ing the same by means of a sliding cover and more specifically, by closing a pair of pockets on opposite sides of a lock carrying portion of the keyslip by a pair of sliding covers.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a por tion of a player piano, showing the keyslip and a preferred arrangement of cover mounted thereon. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the base side of the keyslip shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a horizontal view of the keyslip shown in Fig. 2 and taken on the line 33 of that figure looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken on the line H of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a similar view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 3 looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 6 is aview similar to Fig. 3, but showing a modified form of keyslip and cover. F 7 is a view similar to Figs. 3 and 6 showing a second modified form of keyslip, and Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line SS of Fig. 7, but showing the cover in open position.

In order to disclose the details of a physical embodiment of my invention, I have shown a portion of a player piano A having the keys B and closing fall board C, which fall board is adapted in its closed position to have its front edge rest upon the keyslip D disposed in front of the keys B, which keyslip and its attached parts more particularly form the subject matter of my invention.

More particularly describing the form illustrated in 1 to 5 inclusive, there is shown disposed on opposite sides of the center of the front face of the keyslip D, and below the upper side thereof, a pair of spaced-apart relatively deep recesses or pockets 9 adapted to contain the expression and actuating elements of the player such as the buttons 10 and levers 11. As these pockets and their covering parts are similar in construction but one side of the keyslip will be described in detail.

The pockets 9 are opened to the front so that ready access may be obtained to the manipulating elements therein. Preferably the top ledge 12 outlining the top of the pocket 9 may be recessed from the front edge thereof, as shown at 13 in Fig. 1, to prevent any interference with the fingers of the operator when playing.

Forming a continuation of the pocket 9 and extending horizontally therefrom in a direction away from the center portion 1 1 of the bed 1) is a shallow pocket 15. Mounted to slide horizontally on the keyslip is a sliding cover 16 in the form of a thin panel of a thickness equal to the depth of the pocket 15 and adapted in one position to cover the pocket 9 and to slide into the pocket 15 to uncover the pocket 9 containing the expression and actuating buttons and lovers. The cover 16 is maintained in sliding position on the keyslip in any suitable manner and as illustrateo several means are disclosed. For instance, as shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 8, a ledge 17 extends rearwardly from the top of the rear face of the cover 16 and fits into and conforms in cross-section to a half-dove-tail guideway 18 formed between the top ledge 12 and the body portion of the keyslip. The lower edge of the cover may be formed into a shoulder 19 abutting an up turned lip 20 at the outer face of the lower ledge 21 forming the bottom of the pockets 9 and 15. In place of or in addition to this means for slidably holding the cover, it may be held in position by a dovetail track and slot connection 22 centrally disposed along the back of the cover.

Suitable locking means may be provided for holding the cover in either its open or closed position and for this purpose there is disclosed a spring pressed button 23 disposed in a recess in the keyslip and adapted to engage in one of two depressions 2st in the rear face of the cover to lightly hold the same in its open position in the pocket 15 or to engage the other depression to hold the cover in the closing position shown in Figs. 2 and 3 abutting the central portion 1 1.

To move the cover manually a stud 25 may be fastened to extend from the front face of the cover.

As hereinbefore described the pocket 15 is open to the outside forming a panel effect but should it be desired to maintain an uninterrupted front to the keyslip, a portion of the pocket 15 equal to the width of the pocket 9, may be deepened as shown at 25 in Fig. 6 and said deepened pocket covered by a facing board 26 having a beveled end 27 underlapping the adjacent end of the cover 16. This facing board is maintained in its forward position in the plane of the cover 16 by a spring 28 disposed in the deepened pocket 25 and fastened to the rear wall of the same by a bolt 29. The movement of the cover in the direction of this facing board will depress the latter into the pocket 25 permitting the cover to occupy the position previously occupied by the facing board 26, thereby uncovering the pocket 9.

By the construction shown in Fig. 7 it will be seen that the cover 16 may be pressed inward toward the pocket 9 against the tension of the spring 80 and slid back of the facing strip 31 into the pocket 32. Drawing the cover out of the pocket 32 permits the spring to force the cover into alinement with the front of the keyslip and covering the pocket 9, thereby presenting an unbroken front to the keyslip. By this construction of spaced apart pockets 9 in the face of the keyslip there is left a central portion. 14c of the substantial keyslip in which may be disposed the lock or catch 33 for holding the fall board in closed position. In this way but one look is necessary and it is not only positioned in its most effective place, that is centrally of the fallboard, but is carried by a rigid and firm part of the framework of the player piano and not by some loose, movable member of the same.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A keyslip for player pianos having a pocket in the front face thereof adapted to contain the expression and control elements of the piano, a horizontally slidable cover adapted in one position to close said pocket, a second pocket to one side of said first men- 'ioned pocket and adapted to contain said cover when said first mentioned pocket is opened, means maintaining said cover continuously in the plane of the front face of the keyslip, and means closing said second mentioned pocket when said cover is closing said first mentioned pocket.

2. A keyslip having two pockets in the front face thereof, a sliding cover adapted to face either of said pockets and a supplemental cover movable into the plane of said sliding cover to cover one of said pockets when the same is uncovered by said sliding cover.

8. A keyslip for player pianos having a pocket in the front face thereof adapted to contain the expression controlling elements and having a second pocket disposed adjacent the first mentioned pocket, a sliding cover adapted in one position to cover said first mentioned pocket, a facing board for said second mentioned pocket, 2). spring tending to maintain said board in the plane of said cover, said cover adapted to engage the board to force the same into the second mentioned pocket.

CHARLES E. CAMERON.

Witnesses H. R. BAUER, S. R. CAIRNS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

